Aljamain Sterling is preparing for his UFC 292 headliner fight against Sean O’Malley and aims to prove doubters wrong by defeating an opponent he feels has been favored by the promoter.
Aljamain Sterling is no stranger to a quick title turnaround and favored opponents, so his UFC 292 headliner with Sean O’Malley is par for the course. Sterling feels that his longtime promoter has tried to keep him from rising to the top, even as he prepares to headline his second UFC pay-per-view in three months. The August 19 headliner isn’t just a quick step into Sterling’s next fight – it represents another chance for him to prove his most powerful doubters wrong by defeating an opponent he thinks has been given favorable treatment.
Sterling discussed his thoughts on O’Malley’s fighting style during an appearance on Jake Paul’s “B.S.” video podcast, saying, “I’m looking at him and seeing what he’s doing to the guys. He’s fighting guys that are stationary, standing right in front of him. He takes his time, he lets them pick their shots, and then he picks his shots and he lays the better shots. I’m like, if you get a guy who’s actually trying to wrestle him, it’s a different fight, man. … You get a guy with good footwork, it’s not the same fight, man.” Sterling feels that his need to prove himself to the UFC is similar to trying to prove something to a disapproving father, saying, “I almost feel like I need to prove something to pops, to be like, ‘Oh yeah, you think this, ‘I’m gonna show you motherfucker,’ for me.”
In June, Sterling broke the record for most consecutive bantamweight title defenses at 3 with a split call over former two-division UFC champ Henry Cejudo at UFC 288. Sterling credits his mental toughness to his rough upbringing, which included an often-absent father who abused him. Sterling has had a series of octagon opponents who irked him, such as ex-champ Petr Yan and O’Malley, whom he believes the UFC views as a “golden goose.”
Sterling is prepared to show that O’Malley’s popularity doesn’t correlate with talent, saying, “This is what gets me going. This is what gets me up in the morning and this is what gets me in the gym and push those hours.” Sterling scoffs at O’Malley’s use of a balloon-like device that claims to help athletes breathe better during performance, stating that he relies instead on the old-school toughness of a trained wrestler. Sterling is currently a -375 favorite to defend his title on August 19 in Boston, with O’Malley listed as a +200 underdog in most lines.